Picking up the Pieces
by Boredone32
Summary: Post Boiling Rock Zutara. Zuko is having trouble earning the trust of the Gaang, and Katara is going well out of her way to make it harder. While his frustration is reaching its boiling point, his sister comes to him with a proposition, and a new way out. Zuko's spent weeks coming to realize what is right and what is wrong, but he's always been terrible at making decisions.


**Author's Note: This is a post Boiling Rock Zutara fic and it will be slow. Don't expect them to be together until about chapter… 15 or later. Some of this chapter is similar to a story I wrote a while ago, but the parts that are the same are edited and there is new stuff added toward the end. The beginning may seem familiar. The chapter as a whole takes a slightly different style than my normal stories, and I doubt anyone will notice, but I like the way it flows better. Read, enjoy, and if you so choose, review!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Avatar the Last Airbender**

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**Chapter 1**

**Dealing with the Devil**

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**XxXxXx-B32-xXxXxX**

_We come to love not by finding the perfect person but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly._

_-Sam Keen_

**XxXxXx-B32-xXxXxX**

Zuko couldn't help but smile slightly as Aang showed off his new firebending skills to his friends. The gang had decided to take a day off from all the training Zuko had been putting Aang through since their return. The young man had been opposed to the idea, but a stern glare from Katara shut him up before he voiced his opinion. Said waterbender was currently ignoring his presence, a massive step up from her previous approach. His eyes shifted from Aang to Katara as he thought about her threats on the day of his arrival to the group.

He shuddered as he recalled the ferocity in her eyes when she threatened to end his destiny and lay back against the cold ground as he tried to shake his thoughts.

"Scares you that much, does she?" Zuko looked up to see Sokka standing over him, smiling mischievously.

Zuko's eyes narrowed. "Katara? She doesn't scare me at all." Sokka scoffed and sat down next to the firebender, examining his boomerang as he responded.

"Sure she doesn't." Sokka responded, smirking as Zuko rolled his eyes and went back to watching Aang firebend. It wasn't easy for the prince to watch on without trying to correct all of the young airbender's mistakes, but he managed to resist the temptation. "Don't worry about her too much. She's just protective; it's not a huge deal. I doubt she'd kill you in your sleep or anything." Zuko's eyes widened as the possibility came across his mind for the first time.

"Gee, thanks. I hadn't even considered that."

Sokka didn't seem to catch the sarcasm in Zuko's voice as he got up, stretching his arms over his head. "No problem, buddy. I'm here to help." Zuko huffed and smiled lightly to himself, shaking his head as he watched Sokka join his sister in watching Aang bend. Zuko decided to head to the top of the air temple so he could think in peace after watching Aang stumble through a couple more moves he had been taught.

The firebender sat on the edge of the temple with his legs hanging over the side of the giant canyon. He could still make out the sounds of Aang, who was now sparring with Toph, messing up more bending maneuvers. "Hey, watch it!" he heard Sokka yell from below. "I'm not even a part of this fight!"

Zuko smirked as he imagined the expression Sokka had on his face. The prince couldn't help but enjoy the endless number of funny moments the group seemed to have. Ever since he had joined them, Zuko had been happier. He had smiled on multiple occasions, laughed at Sokka a few times, and even made a couple of jokes. It was the first time he had really felt accepted, despite the fact that Katara made a point of showing that he was _not_. Of all the decisions he had made in his life, this had been the biggest, but it had also been the one he was most sure of. He was proud of himself for something other than his title for the first time in his life.

Zuko jumped up as a thought suddenly occurred to him. His uncle had said that he couldn't bend lightning because he wasn't at peace with himself. Zuko had never felt so at peace with himself before, so maybe he could do it now.

The firebender took a stance and breathed in deeply. He moved through his stances, slowly and precisely, focusing all of his attention on creating lightning. Zuko knew the true origin of firebending; he knew that he was sure of himself and his decision; he knew he could create lightning.

The prince stepped forward and willed the energy forward, guiding lightning off of his fingertips. He felt the power surging forward and… being blown directly back in his face.

The resulting explosion sent the prince hurtling backward and he landed painfully on his back as he skidded to a stop. Zuko would have been angry that he had failed once again to create lightning, if it wasn't for the fact that his head was currently hanging over the edge of what appeared to be an unending drop.

His eye's widened and Zuko scrambled forward, completely ignoring the pain he was in. It took a while for the prince to regain his composure. _Why the hell did I do that _he asked himself. _A couple more inches and I would have been dead._ Ever since arriving at the group, Zuko had considered Katara and himself the responsible ones, but he was beginning to question if he deserved to be in that group.

The prince felt a sudden need to get down from where he was, and mindlessly walked back to the Gaang as his mind raced with thoughts about how he could easily be dead at the moment. He couldn't think straight or focus. He didn't notice Katara as he walked by her cooking dinner towards the rest of the group. "What's with you?" she asked, her tone showing very little real concern or compassion. Zuko jumped when he heard her, causing Sokka to laugh as he entered the vicinity.

"Thought you said she didn't scare you."

Zuko glared at Sokka and Katara scared at Zuko. "She doesn't," he responded firmly, "I didn't notice her and she surprised me. That's all."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "You'd better be scared of me Zuko." Katara said, daring him to take her challenge.

Zuko bit back any snarky response that came to mind and decided to simply change the subject. "Where's Aang?" he asked Sokka, but Katara answered instead.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Where did you go anyway?" Zuko tried to ignore the accusatory tone, but it was far too obvious.

"For a walk. I just wanted to see if Aang wanted help with some of his moves. His stances are off and his form is spotty at best." Katara seemed to get angry at his response, even though Zuko was just telling the truth.

"He's sparring with Toph," Sokka told Zuko, who promptly took off in their direction. "What are you making for dinner?" Katara continued glaring suspiciously at Zuko's back as he left.

"Follow him." She told Sokka, completely ignoring his question.

"What? Why?"

"I don't trust him. He was up there 'walking' for half an hour. Then he comes back looking all freaked out and I'm pretty sure I heard an explosion. I think he's planning something." Sokka sighed and rolled his eyes.

"You're being paranoid. If you're that worried, follow him yourself."

"I will after dinner, but I need you to do it until then… I'm just worried about Aang." Sokka didn't seem to think it was a good enough reason, so Katara switched her approach. "Follow him until after dinner for me and I'll make extra soup for you."

Sokka leapt off after Zuko, shouting "deal" over his shoulder as he ran.

**XxXxXx-B32-xXxXxX**

"You want any help with that?"

Katara didn't need to look over her shoulder to know who was asking; he did it after every meal. "No Zuko, I've never wanted your help and I never will." She shook her head and angrily blew a tuft of hair from her face as she got back to finishing the dishes. Zuko sighed and set his dishes down before leaving the opening. Once the firebender's footsteps faded from earshot Katara slammed her fist into the ground, growling angrily.

She was fed up with his attitude, always trying to be helpful and nice. He didn't react to any of her insults and took all of her 'accidental' water whips in stride. The fact that everyone else was buying his little act made Katara even more frustrated and she needed to figure out what his real motives were soon. As if he had read her mind, Sokka approached Katara to hand her his dishes.

"Hey, did you follow Zuko?" Sokka yawned as he nodded in response.

"Yep, I think you're just being paranoid. He watched Aang and Toph train and we talked a little about swordsmanship. He knows a lot about it; we're gonna spar sometime tomorrow."

"You're not supposed to be friendly with him! You're supposed to spy on him and figure out what he's up to." Sokka rolled his eyes, causing Katara to glare in anger.

"What's he gonna do? Teach Aang too much firebending? Glare holes in Toph's back? It's fine; Zuko's not up to anything. He's pretty cool once you get to know him a little bit." Katara's jaw practically hit the floor as Sokka shrugged and got up to leave.

"Zuko is _pretty cool?"_ she asked, mocking her brother. He nodded. "Zuko, the son of the firelord, who practically killed Aang on multiple occasions, is _pretty cool?_" Sokka grinned and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Who woulda thought?"

Katara breathed in deeply as she processed her dim-witted brother's response. "No one!" she screamed, as Sokka shrunk back in shock. "Zuko is not _cool; _he's a heartless murderer who's trying to kill our friends!"

Sokka sighed and shook his head as he sat slowly next to his sister. "Dad told me this would probably happen. See, Katara, when you turn a certain age, things start changing. You start to get funny feelings…"

Katara's eye twitched as she zoned out her brother's rambling about 'weird feelings' and 'awkward changes' and realized that she was completely on her own in figuring out what Zuko was planning. As Sokka got to a part about body changes Katara drew the water she was using to do the dishes, which was luckily scalding hot, and whipped her brother just below the back of his neck with it.

"Ow! What was that for?!" he screamed, rubbing his neck as well as he could.

"Just leave, Sokka." Katara responded in annoyance, pinching the bridge of her nose to try and control herself. She would have to follow Zuko herself.

**XxXxXx-B32-xXxXxX**

The waterbender fought to stay awake as she stayed a safe distance from Zuko. He was just sitting by the campfire, watching the embers slowly die down. The others had gone to bed at least an hour and a half ago, and Katara was eager to join them, but not until she knew what Zuko was up to.

_He _has _to be up to something, _she thought, trying to convince herself she wasn't wasting valuable sleeping time. She sighed audibly in annoyance, getting fed up with waiting. Her eyes widened as she saw Zuko tense up and look in her vicinity. Katara stepped back slowly, trying to sneak away stealthily.

"Who's there?" Zuko barked, climbing to his feet and taking a bending stance. Unable to decide what she should do, Katara waited, not daring to breathe as she hoped Zuko would calm down. A few seconds passed and Zuko lit up a fire in his palm. "I said," he started, slowly and deliberately, sounding as threatening as he could. "Who's there?"

"Relax Sparky, it's me… again." Zuko dropped his stance as another figure joined him. "I'd prefer you didn't burn my feet this time." Katara recognized Toph's voice and finally released the breath she had been holding. Zuko chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Yeah, sorry about that…" Toph sat down and Zuko followed suit, his eyes moving back to the slowly dying fire. "Why are you still up?"

Toph shrugged dismissively. "Couldn't sleep. I could ask you the same thing."

"Same." Zuko's voice was decisively downtrodden, which seemed odd to Katara as she continued to eavesdrop on the conversation. After a momentary silence Toph began laughing and pointing at Zuko. He looked at her in confusion as she stopped, wiping non-existent tears from her eyes.

"So Sugar Queen scared you that badly, huh?" Zuko had picked up on Toph's nicknames, though he still couldn't put a finger on the origin of Katara's.

"No, I'm not afraid of Katara. What is with you people?" Toph snickered slightly and shrugged.

"She can be pretty scary at times; she's protective. Over-protective if you ask me." Zuko rolled his eyes and huffed in agreement, causing the girl in question to glare at him from the shadows. "Also, I can tell you're lying; you suck at it, no offense."

Zuko opened his mouth to argue with her, but realized it wouldn't have any effect, so he simply mumbled to himself in anger. "She really hates me, though I can't say I blame her. I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life in Ba Sing Se; I don't think I've forgiven myself yet." He said dejectedly.

"Well maybe that's the first step. You made a mistake. Move on and get over it; do everything you can to make it right and there isn't much of a problem, but I doubt she'll ever forgive you if you can't move on yourself." Zuko looked at Toph as she got up with his eyes wide, wondering how the twelve year old had just managed to channel his uncle. "And about Katara, she really is a good person. You just seem to bring out the worst in her. I need to go get some sleep; you should too."

Zuko shook his head slowly as the blind earthbender faded from view. He couldn't help but laugh at the irony; between Toph and Aang, Zuko was being taught life lessons by twelve year olds all over the place. "You're probably right," he finally said, speaking to Toph as though she was still within earshot, his voice solemn and hollow. "I guess I just don't feel like I deserve to be forgiven."

With one last sigh and a wave of his hand, Zuko put out the fire and left for his bedroom. Katara sat in the dark in shock, trying to process everything she had heard.

**XxXxXx-B32-xXxXxX**

Katara yawned in exhaustion as she tried to focus on adding ingredients to the food she was preparing. She had been up spying on Zuko late into the night, and the lack of sleep was killing her. She rubbed her temples and concentrated on keeping her eyes open, hating that she was the one who had to get up early to make breakfast. She vaguely heard footsteps behind her, but her tired mind refused to acknowledge them as anything more than figments of her sleep deprived imagination. A few seconds of silence passed and Katara had to blink to keep herself from passing out.

"What's wrong; are you sick?"

Katara jumped at the sound of Zuko's voice, taking a defensive stance in tired fear. As her mind caught up with her eyes and ears, she realized it was only Zuko, but the temptation to water whip him remained just as strong.

"I was up late; not that you should be concerned." She retorted, her voice cold and confident despite her display of fear moments earlier. She glared slightly at the look of amusement tugging at the banished prince's face.

"And I'm guessing that me finishing breakfast while you get some rest is not an option?" Zuko asked, doing his best not to offend the girl.

Katara scoffed and turned back to the food, her tiredness completely forgotten and replaced with resentment. "Riight. I can take a nap while you poison and kill all of us… fantastic idea Zuko." she remarked sarcastically.

Zuko sighed and sat down by the campfire, starting it with a flick of his wrist and watching the newborn flames dance in front of his eyes. The two benders remained silent for a few minutes as Zuko meditated and Katara continued to cook. Zuko heard the girl yawn sporadically and couldn't help but wonder why she was so tired.

"So…" he started, pausing to see if she would kill him for trying to start a conversation. "Late night?" he asked.

Katara huffed and mumbled inaudibly, which Zuko took to be the only response he would get. Silence took over once again and Zuko watched the waterbender continue her preparation. He was slightly disturbed as he watched her add multiple Fire Nation spices to the mixture and wondered whether she wasn't thinking correctly because of her lack of sleep or if she was trying to kill everyone with the hottest breakfast she could muster. He noticed that she had a pot of water hanging over a small set of sticks where she normally heated the water, only the fire wasn't lit.

Zuko took it upon himself to light said fire, since Katara was clearly too tired to notice her mistake. He stood up and slowly stepped over, making his movements obvious and loud so the girl wouldn't be startled. He lit the fire while in sight of the water bender, who looked at him in confusion for a few seconds before switching to a glare.

"What are you doing? I didn't ask for your help." she asked. Zuko started walking back to his spot as he shrugged.

"Yeah, but it's a lot less effort for me to start a fire than it is for you." Zuko stated while sitting back down. He heard Katara douse the fire with her bending and rolled his eyes. He looked back to see the girl trying to restart the flames she had just killed. "Is it really _that _bad to accept a little help?" Zuko asked.

Katara practically snarled as she looked back at him. "From you, yes. Yes it is."

Zuko just shook his head and went back to ignoring the girl, who managed to get the fire restarted after about another minute. A tense silence reigned until Zuko stood up and began stretching. Katara, noticing that Zuko seemed to be unaffected by his late night, was immediately put off. "Shouldn't you be tired too?" she asked in annoyance.

Zuko turned to look at her curiously, lifting his good eyebrow in confusion. "Why would I be tired?" Katara's eyes widened as she realized the mistake she had made. "What makes you think I was up late?"

Katara quickly decided her best course of action would be to turn the conversation around. "Oh, nothing. It just seems like plotting to kill the Avatar would take a lot of thought."

Zuko shook his head and laughed mirthlessly, growing tired of the girl's incessant accusations. "What is it with you? If I wanted to kill Aang I would have done it when we were alone during the three days it took to find the Sun Warrior Civilization."

"And how do I know you didn't try?" Katara shot back, standing to get into Zuko's face.

"What? Why would Aang let me come back if I tried to kill him? How tired are you?!" The firebender yelled.

"You could have tried to make it look like an accident!" Katara screamed back.

"You're insane!"

"You're a jerk!"

"SHUT UP!" Both benders' eyes widened as they turned to see a very angry Toph sightlessly glaring at them. "All three of us were up late last night, and unlike you two, I want to get some sleep. You are going to be quiet and get along for the next hour and a half or I'll bend you both into a box until you can work out your issues. Got it? Good." Toph finished, heading back to her bed without waiting for an answer. Katara huffed and went back to her cooking wordlessly as Zuko stood still.

After a short moment, he spoke softly while still managing to sound angry. "You were spying on me." It wasn't a question, and Katara wasn't going to answer. Zuko rolled his eyes and turned to walk up to the training ground. "Well go ahead; I've got nothing to hide. Send Aang up when he's ready to start training."

"You're not eating anything?" Katara asked, more out of offense than concern.

"No one is going to eat that; it's way too hot. You should get some sleep; you're not thinking straight." Zuko left Katara to seethe at his last remark despite the obvious truth behind it. She tasted her concoction and realized that the firebender was right, and there was no way anyone would be able to stomach the fiery mixture.

"Is that breakfast I smell?" Sokka asked, rubbing his eyes as he walked into the open area of the Western Air Temple. Katara simply pushed past her brother with a 'humph' and moved toward her room.

**XxXxXx-B32-xXxXxX**

"Wow… you're up early." Zuko remarked as Sokka joined him on top of the Air Temple. The Water-Tribe Warrior stretched and yawned as he sat down and watched Zuko continue meditating.

"Yeah, I woke up to some yelling and decided to see if breakfast was ready. Whatever Katara made this morning was incredibly hot; it sorta shocked me awake." Sokka said while shrugging casually. Zuko's concentration broke and his eyes widened in disgust.

"You actually ate that?!"

"Yeah." The boy responded nonchalantly. He laughed slightly before he continued, "You know something?" Zuko just waited for Sokka to continue, not really caring to guess what was on the younger teen's mind. "Your people may be crazy and hell-bent on conquering the world, but they sure know their spices." Sokka licked his lips for emphasis while Zuko rolled his eyes at the boy's offensive sense of humor.

"I'm sure 'my people' would be honored by the compliment, Sokka." he responded sarcastically. Sokka stood up and began stretching his arms while Zuko went back to meditating and trying to get a little quiet time to himself before he started Aang's lesson for the day.

"Why do you meditate? It seems like such a… waste of time." Sokka said, causing Zuko to shrug.

"I don't really know. I enjoy the peace, but I guess it helps me keep a cool head."

"I guess that explains why you do it so often." Sokka joked, earning an annoyed half-smile from the banished prince. "So about that swordfight you promised me…" Sokka challenged.

"You want to do it now so no one sees you get embarrassed?" Zuko asked, smirking to himself.

"I'm just trying to be a nice guy and give you a chance to save face." Zuko got up and turned around, arrogantly smirking and going over the numerous occasions he had bested the younger boy. "We could always make it a little more interesting, if you're really that confident."

"What are we betting?" Zuko asked. "Neither of us have any money, and I didn't bring anything very valuable from the palace…"

Sokka shook his head and started down toward his room to get his sword with Zuko in tow. "If I win you have to help me out with a little… mission. If you win I'll see what I can do about getting Katara off of your back."

Zuko immediately accepted Sokka's conditions, the promise of any help with Katara being much greater than any concern he had about Sokka's vague request. "I'll meet you back here in fifteen minutes." he said, separating from the warrior and making his way to his own bedroom. Zuko was tired and hungry, but he had spent years training and had already beaten Sokka many times, so he wasn't too concerned with the sparring match. Even if the younger boy had spent the past year training and mastering swordsmanship, Zuko had an advantage in speed and strength.

Zuko began plotting his strategy as his room came into view. He squinted as he saw what looked like shadows through the doorway, and immediately became cautious. He approached his room slowly, until he heard Katara's voice coming from inside. "What are you doing in my room?" Zuko asked as he entered it, taking in the scene of Katara going through all of his personal belongings.

"You said you had nothing to hide. I decided to make sure." Katara replied, not at all concerned about her blatant disrespect of the firebender's privacy.

"I don't, though going through all of my stuff seems unreasonable." Zuko replied tersely, hardly taking care to avoid angering the girl. "Just toss me my sword and put everything back where you found it." He finished, knowing that he had nothing of much value with him anyway. Katara tossed Zuko his broadswords while glaring fiercely at him.

"Gonna go stab Aang with it?" she asked accusingly. Zuko merely shook his head and groaned as he left his room. _At least I get to take my anger out on Sokka_, he thought, his mood perking up as he got closer to their sparring ground.

**XxXxXx-B32-xXxXxX**

The sound of metal hitting metal rang through the air as Zuko and Sokka traded blows, both trying to get a feel for his opponents style. "That's a really weird sword" Sokka said as he dodged one of Zuko's strikes. He countered with an upward slash that Zuko promptly blocked.

"I could say the same," Zuko replied, referencing Sokka's Space Sword. "Where did you learn to fight? You used to be terrible." Zuko continued as the two opponents split and stared each other down.

"I learned from Master Piandao, and I was not terrible!" Sokka complained as Zuko charged him. "You're the one using two hands." He added as he and Zuko continued dodging and blocking half speed attacks. Zuko just shrugged and effortlessly dodged multiple jabs from Sokka. "It doesn't give you much more power, and it's making you a lot slower." Sokka continued striking half-heartedly at Zuko as the firebender continued to stay defensive.

"I know." Zuko said, sidestepping Sokka's first real attempt at an attack and smirking. Sokka's eyes widened as he realized that Zuko was trying to simply wear him out and draw out the match until he was too tired to fight efficiently.

"Why do it then?" Sokka asked, beginning his first real assault of the firebender. He approached with a slash from the left that Zuko blocked, but before the firebender could do anything else, the warrior dropped his attack downward, forcing Zuko to jump to avoid having his legs taken out.

"You'll see." The firebender responded, countering weakly in midair to keep Sokka occupied and to avoid losing to another low strike. "Piandao is legendary in the Fire Nation; you're lucky he taught you." Zuko said as he parried a stab from Sokka and countered with a sweeping kick that the warrior backed away from. "He's great at predicting his opponent's next moves." Zuko continued, smirking as Sokka began a new flurry of slashes and attacks. Zuko blocked and countered while smirking and still talking to Sokka, who was completely focused on the fight at that point.

"Of course, this is also one of his greatest weaknesses." Zuko said, beginning to throw in some counters as Sokka's attacks became more precise and tougher to deal with. He barely managed to dodge a sweeping left to right slash from Sokka by backing away, but the firebender quickly regained composure and brought his weapon crashing down toward Sokka's head. Sokka blocked but Zuko didn't back away, slowly overpowering the younger boy in a battle of strength. "It makes him slightly arrogant, and he doesn't react well to true surprises."

Sokka was beginning to falter as Zuko now had leverage over him and the firebender was in much better shape than the warrior. Zuko's smirk widened as Sokka's right knee began to shake. Zuko released the pressure from Sokka's sword and fluidly separated his dual broadswords, keeping the right locked with Sokka's Space Sword while swinging the left one at his opponent's feet. Sokka was caught off guard and barely managed to block the blow. Zuko was expecting the block, and managed to dislodge Sokka's weapon while simultaneously sending an elbow into the warrior's chest. Sokka crashed backwards and his sword landed a few feet away, but Zuko didn't close in to finish the fight.

He didn't want to win with a cheap trick, and already had the upper hand with his superior stamina and agility. Sokka grabbed his sword and took his stance as Zuko continued to stare him down with a smirk on his face. "You were talking about me, weren't you?" Sokka asked. Zuko nodded in response before re-engaging his opponent. The attacks from dual swords quickly wore out the remaining energy Sokka had, and Zuko had him beat within another minute of incessant, quick strikes.

Sokka sat down and sighed in defeat, completely worn out and slightly disheartened. Zuko made his way to the fountain and ran some of the cool water through his hair before cupping his hands to get a drink. He grabbed one of the group's canteens and filled it for Sokka, before walking back and sitting next to the Water Tribe teen. "I have to admit, that was a lot more fun than I expected." Zuko said, handing Sokka the canteen and sitting on a nearby rock. "You've gotten really good really quickly." he complimented.

Sokka huffed before shaking his head and taking a drink of water. "Apparently not good enough." he said, wiping his mouth. Zuko looked at him curiously, waiting for an explanation. "You're a bender. You had to spend a ton of time mastering your element. I should be able to beat you without it, but you're still quite a bit better than me. It sucks being the one guy in the group that can't really fight."

"I think you underestimate yourself." Zuko responded while shrugging. "I've spent my entire life training. I learned all sorts of combat from the best masters in the entire Fire Nation. You had never even had to learn until less than a year ago. When you consider that, I'd say you're pretty good. I might be better at fighting, but that's only because it's all I really know how to do."

"I guess… It's just weird knowing that your little sister could probably beat the crap out of you if she wanted to."

"I know the feeling," Zuko said, laughing bitterly. "But there's always room to improve if you're that concerned about your sword fighting."

Sokka thought about it for a moment before deciding Zuko was right. "I don't suppose you'd want to help me practice after you teach Aang every day?" he responded.

"Sure. I could always use the extra practice." Sokka smiled and nodded as silence filled the Western Air Temple. After a few moments of catching his breath, Zuko changed the topic. "What was it you wanted me to help you with? If you had won the bet, I mean."

"Well," Sokka replied, his tone mischievous. "We worked pretty well together at the Boiling Rock, so I thought maybe you could help me pull a little prank."

Zuko's expression sank as he realized that Sokka really didn't take things very seriously. The firebender had been expecting some crazy rescue mission or something at least with a bit of risk involved. "You're joking, right?" Sokka shook his head, and Zuko was barely able to suppress a groan. "Look, I don't exactly have a lot of fans here; I don't wanna make them hate me more just so you can get a laugh. Sorry."

Sokka shrugged, grabbing his sword and beginning back toward camp as Aang came up to the clearing for training. "I knew you wouldn't be any fun," the warrior called over his shoulder, earning a smirk from his new sparring partner.

**XxXxXx-B32-xXxXxX**

Zuko and Aang made their way to the common area after they finished Aang's firebending lesson for the day. Zuko had kept the lesson going a little longer when it started to rain so that Aang was forced to practice his bending in worse conditions. Zuko had told him if he could bend in the rain he would be a lot better when it was dry. It had also given Zuko a good opportunity to work with Aang on his breath of fire.

The bald monk sprinted back to his friends when the lesson was over, not wanting to spend any extra time with his impatient firebending master. He bent the water off of his body as he reached the covered area. "Hey guys!" he yelled, waving as he made his way toward the food.

"You're late." Katara replied, sounding bitter and angry. Aang was worried by her tone, and wondered what he had done to make her mad at him.

"Are you okay, Katara?" he asked as he grabbed his plate of now-cold dinner. After taking his first bite and finding the food to be room temperature, Aang quickly reheated the meal with his firebending.

"She's just tired and cranky from spying on Zuko last night." Toph answered, causing the girl in question to glare at her.

"And frustrated from going through all of his stuff and finding nothing." Sokka added.

Aang looked to Katara, getting slightly angered by her constant paranoia. "Is that true? Are you really spying on Zuko and going through his stuff?" Katara rolled her eyes as Zuko came into the room, heating his body to evaporate the water off of it.

"I'm the only one who's being careful with him. You guys are handing him your trust, and he's just going to stab you in the back! I just don't want to see anyone get hurt." Katara said, changing the subject and trying to justify her actions.

"That doesn't mean you should treat him like that. He's still a human being, and he's doing everything he can to help us!" Aang responded. The entire group had noticed Zuko's arrival, but they continued arguing as though he wasn't there. Zuko wordlessly grabbed his own food and began watching from the background.

"Seriously Katara," Sokka started, "he's actually really cool if you give him a chance. All he's done since he got here is help. He's even tried to help you, but you refuse to let him." Katara's lack of sleep and the two weeks of dealing with Zuko were testing her self-control, and her anger was beginning to boil over.

"He's deceiving all of you! All he does is lie." She argued.

"I can tell when he's lying, Katara." Toph said, joining Aang and Sokka's side of the argument. "He's terrible at it, and he hasn't done it much. The only time he lies is when he's defending you. You're just letting your hurt feelings get the best of you."

"No I'm not! I made the mistake of trusting that monster once before," Katara yelled, pointing at Zuko, who still merely watched from the side. "He betrayed me, and Aang almost died because of it!" Aang stood up and glared at Katara from across the fire, bewildered at his friend's loss of control.

"You can't just call people monsters like that Katara. Zuko's putting up with you being a jerk to him because he _has_ done some bad things, but now he's trying to make up for it and you won't even give him a chance!" the airbender replied angrily.

"Seriously Katara, you might hurt his feelings." Toph added half-jokingly.

"That's exactly what he wants!" Katara yelled as tears of anger built up in her eyes. She hated that all of her friends were against when she was only trying to protect them. "He makes you feel sorry for him so you let your guard down and he can strike! He told me he lost his mother just so I'd feel sorry for him! If his mother did leave, it was probably her choice; I'd hate knowing my child was such a heartless jerk!" Katara practically screamed. This time her comments were aimed directly at Zuko as she tried to get him to snap by attacking him personally.

Zuko's plate fell to the floor and shattered as everyone looked at him. As angry as he was, Zuko fought to keep his cool. His body was shaking as his mind threatened to snap, but he knew Katara was just trying to get under his skin. He fought back the urge to kill Katara as he slowly and deliberately responded. "I don't have to take this," he said slowly, trying not to lose his temper as he slowly walked away. Every part of him wanted to scream, or burn, the waterbender's head off, but he knew it wouldn't be worth it.

Katara stood in shock, unnerved by the composure Zuko had managed to keep as well as the pain he had shown in his eyes. As much as she forced herself to hate the firebender, she felt terrible for what she had said to him. The icy stares her companions were giving her didn't help, and tears began pouring from the girl's eyes as she sprinted away without another word.

She ran out into the woods near the Air Temple, ignoring the rain that was soaking her from head to toe. Her hands covered her eyes as she continued to cry, all of her emotions kicking into overdrive. The waterbender couldn't see where she was going, and she tripped over the base of a large tree. She landed hard on her knees, but decided not to get up. She sat with her back against the trunk of the tree and her legs curled up to her chest. She didn't bother trying to stop the tears from falling as she tried to find a way to face her friends again.

She felt horrible for what she had said to Zuko, and she wasn't proud of the way she had been treating him. Her friends were mad at her for it, and Zuko was probably one more comment away from exploding on her.

The part that scared her was that she cared.

Even after he had betrayed her and almost killed her best friend in Ba Sing Se, Katara cared that she was hurting Zuko so badly. Even though her mind had convinced itself that he deserved it, Katara couldn't stop feeling like she was wrong. She sat still for quite a while, crying to herself and trying to figure out what she was going to say to Aang, Sokka, Toph, and, most of all, Zuko. Rain was still pouring down as someone sat down on the other side of the tree. He took a deep breath as though he were trying to calm himself. Katara assumed it was Sokka trying to convince her to apologize to Zuko, so she was caught off guard when Zuko spoke.

"I'm sorry." Katara lifted her head from her knees as she tried to figure out what he meant. She still wasn't going to forgive him for what happened in Ba Sing Se, if that's what he meant. "I didn't mean for this to happen." Zuko continued. "You have every right to be mad at me, and I doubt I'll ever earn your forgiveness, but I didn't mean to cause fights between you and your friends."

Katara was almost angered that Zuko could be so calm about everything, and the fact that he wasn't mad at her made her feel even worse. "I know you don't believe me, but I don't want to hurt anyone." Zuko added, not expecting, or waiting for, a response. "I know you hate me, and I don't blame you, but if you can manage to ignore me until this is over, I'll do my best to stay out of your way. Just so everyone else is less… worked up."

Zuko sat back, waiting for a response he had a feeling would never come as rain continued drenching both of the benders. After a long, drawn out silence, Katara finally spoke. "Every time I see you I get so angry. When I look at you I feel like everything is your fault, even if I know it's not true… and I have no idea why. I don't know why I trusted you at all in Ba Sing Se, and I can't explain why it hurt me so much that you went against us. Now it's like my mind wants to blame you for everything, and I don't know how to make it stop."

Zuko sighed, knowing there wasn't anything he could do about it. "I'm sorry," he replied. "I don't know if I can help, but I'll do anything I can to try and make it up to you." Katara could tell Zuko was telling the truth by the amount of determination she could hear in his voice. Both of them sat still, wordlessly thinking things over for a few minutes before Zuko stood up and began to walk away, realizing he wasn't going to get a response.

"Wait." Katara said, causing Zuko to stop in his tracks, but not to turn around. "I didn't mean what I said… about your mother." The waterbender couldn't bring herself to add an apology to the end of her sentence, but Zuko didn't expect to get one anyway.

"I know." he said, leaving without another word.

**XxXxXx-B32-xXxXxX**

Zuko walked around the edge of the forest, mentally venting all of his frustrations as he tried to let his anger go. He was proud of himself for staying so composed around Katara, and he knew that he did, in fact, deserve quite a bit of what the waterbender was throwing at him. But he still wasn't thrilled about meeting so much resistance when he was finally doing the right thing. He was constantly on edge, always ready to snap, and while he got as much of it out of his system as he could during bending practice with Aang, he was still just one or two comments away from turning the waterbender into charcoal.

Yeah, it seemed like she was trying, at least a bit, to give him a chance, but it didn't provide Zuko much comfort. She was still wary of his every move, challenging his intentions at every step and searching for any chance to incriminate him. Her persistence was infuriating, and he was running out of what little patience he had to begin with.

Their conversation had certainly helped assuage some of his anger, but the more he thought about his situation, the angrier and more frustrated he got. It wasn't fair that even when he was trying to do the right thing the world seemed to just keep throwing obstacle after obstacle into his path. He hadn't expected the group to simply welcome him with open arms after everything he had done, but, now that he was in, was it so much to ask for them to be civil?

He supposed maybe Katara would start to be a bit less aggravating after what had transpired, but he couldn't be sure that her words had been anything more than guilt. He half expected the girl to be even harsher to him the next morning, now that he had seen her acting so vulnerable. His frustration continued to boil, and, realizing he was alone with nothing around him but trees and a canyon, Zuko decided to vent some of his anger in a more physical manner. Yelling in rage, he punched out toward the canyon, a massive burst of flames flying off of his fingers and out into the cold night air. He went through a few basic forms, kicking and punching and yelling his rage away.

After a few moments he finally stopped to catch his breath, panting as he wiped a few beads of sweat from his brow.

"You seem troubled, Zuzu."

His eyes widened and he struck a stance, turning to the forest and searching to find the source of that horrible, arrogant voice. She stepped forward, a hand raised as if to order him to stand down, though he made no move to do so.

"Relax, moron. I'm alone; I'm not going to attack you."

"Why are you here, Azula? How did you find us?" Zuko demanded, ignoring his sister's calm demeanor and keeping his guard up.

"Oh please. You stole an airship; they're not exactly hard to follow, you know." Zuko's lip curled up in anger as Azula stepped next to him, calmly talking as though Zuko didn't look ready to strike at a moment's notice. "Like I said, I came here on my own. I have a… proposition for you."

Zuko relaxed his stance momentarily, his shock taking precedent over caution. He quickly recovered and became even more wary. "Why would I listen to you?"

"Well," Azula started, as though she was thinking through things for him. "You're not in a good spot right now, are you? Clearly you're frustrated with how things are going, and by now you must have realized that the Avatar doesn't have nearly the power to stop this war, even if he did have the drive."

Zuko's stance dropped. He hadn't thought about it much, most likely because he hadn't wanted to, but Azula had a point. Aang wasn't taking his training seriously enough, and there was a decent chance he wouldn't be ready in time to stop his father's invasion of the Earth Kingdom. Even if Aang could, Zuko doubted the boy had the resolve to do what needed to be done in order to end the war once and for all.

"Aang's a talented kid; he'll be ready," Zuko stated firmly, though he wasn't so sure himself.

"I know he is, Zuzu. I've fought him many times myself. But raw talent won't be enough to stop an army, especially with the power of Sozin's Comet on our side," she countered. Zuko remained silent, having no argument with what she had said. "Besides, you must be wondering if you truly made the right decision. Mai was willing to risk her life to fight me even after you had betrayed her so heartlessly. It seems as though the Avatar's group doesn't even want you around. They're only keeping you because they need you; you're a tool to them."

"It's no different in the Fire Nation," Zuko challenged, not willing to let himself be tricked by his sister.

"That hurts, Zuzu." Zuko nearly laughed at her tone; the Fire Nation Princess could barely fake having her feelings hurt. "Besides, why would I even bother offering you this chance if I didn't care about you? Do you really think I couldn't capture the Avatar on my own?"

Zuko paused for a moment, forcing himself to think through things and to avoid listening to Azula's lies. He wouldn't let himself give in to her twisted logic. "Even if I helped you, father wouldn't want me back. It's too late; there's no turning back now." Azula chuckled menacingly, sending a shiver down her brother's spine.

"Who said anything about what father wants?" Zuko's eyes widened in shock and confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.

"It's quite simple. I don't intend to let father decide what happens to you after you help me. I don't really want father to be able to decide anything, and that's why I need your help." Zuko shook his head. There was no way. No way Azula would seriously be considering committing treason. She was far too loyal to their father.

"Do you honestly expect me to believe you would try to steal the throne from father?"

Azula smirked evilly, and the look in her eyes shook Zuko to his core. "Think about it this way, brother. If Dad wins the war I'll spend years as nothing but the princess. I'll be married off to some noble to help further father's grasp on the world, and eventually, when I only have a few years left to make use of it, I will rise to power. I'd be ruler of the world for twenty years or so and then I would die and my children would take over."

Azula began pacing back and forth as she spoke, and Zuko was disturbed by how obvious her lust for power seemed to be. "But, if something truly tragic were to happen to dear old dad, then I'd be stuck with the throne now. Rather than spending most of my life in second place, I'd be ruler of the greatest nation in history for as long as I lived. Now, which do you think I'd prefer?"

"You're crazy," Zuko replied, trying to find some indication of dishonesty from his younger sister. "Besides, why would I want to help with that? How do I know you wouldn't just have me killed, too?"

"Ah yes," Azula started, turning back to her brother with her mischievous smirk still planted firmly on her face. "What _is _in it for you? Well, you see, I've spent quite a bit of time in the Earth Kingdom these past few months, and I think it's safe to say that I have no idea why father would even want to take over this land of peasants and fools. You, however, don't seem to dislike it too much. In exchange for your help I would give you the rest of the world, keeping only the Fire Nation for myself. We could work side by side, and you could accomplish far more than the Avatar could ever hope to."

Zuko's resolve began to falter. As much as he wanted to believe she was lying, the girl showed no signs of being even somewhat dishonest. Not even the slightest hint of doubt was visible in her demeanor, and Zuko couldn't deny her logic. "I don't believe you," he stated finally. _Azula always lies,_ he continued to tell himself.

"Suit yourself," the girl replied dismissively, heading back into the forest she had come from. "Just know this. My reinforcements will be arriving in five days. If you bring the Avatar here alone on the fifth night, I will consider it your acceptance. If not, we will be taking him by force on the sixth morning. I hope you make the right choice, Zuzu."

With those final words she departed, leaving Zuko alone to stand in confusion and doubt, debating which side he should follow.

**XxXxXx-B32-xXxXxX**

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**A/N: Whew, that was a long chapter one. I'm shooting for 7-10k words per chapter, so hopefully it's enough writing each time that it will justify the likely slow updates. It's been a while since I have written a story that is explicitly tailored to Zutara drama, and I kicked off the first chapter with quite a bit of it, so please lemme know how it went. Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!**

**-Boredone32**


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